


I died for you (but I still couldn’t save you)

by orphan_account



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Character Death, Fluff & Angst, Gen, but like, it’s Dick’s fake one, so no need to worry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:29:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27766783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Tim slowly made his way across the room. There wasn’t much personalisation in it, a few weapons on the walls and a few paintings by Damian. He hadn’t wanted them put up, but Dick had insisted.There was one of a sunset over Gotham’s skyline. One was of the whole family in various positions placed in the den. The last was of their caped silhouettes standing against a starry sky. Dick had been right when he said they were beautiful.Damian carefully placed the violin on his shoulder against his collar bone and stood in position, picking up the bow as he went.OrAfter coming back to life, Damian doesn’t know about Dick’s death and Tim decides that he should be the one to tell him.
Relationships: Tim Drake & Damian Wayne
Comments: 6
Kudos: 104





	I died for you (but I still couldn’t save you)

Tim knew that he was the one that was going to have to do it. It’s common knowledge that he’s the one that Damian has the worst relationship with. He didn’t mind taking one for the team. 

He knocked on Damian’s door. Said boy is was sitting on a chair, tuning a violin. Alfred the cat sat upon Damian’s bed, asleep. Damian turned up to glance at him before turning back to the instrument. 

Tim slowly made his way across the room. There wasn’t much personalisation in it, a few weapons on the walls and a few paintings by Damian. He hadn’t wanted them put up, but Dick had insisted. 

There was one of a sunset over Gotham’s skyline. One was of the whole family in various positions placed in the den. The last was of their caped silhouettes standing against a starry sky. Dick had been right when he said they were beautiful. 

Damian carefully placed the violin on his shoulder against his collar bone and stood in position, picking up the bow as he went. He played 4 notes on each string, then placing his fingers down in certain places for different sounds. 

Tim carefully sat down on the bed. Damian glared down at his bow hold. He gently placed the violin down and repositioned his fingers a few times. Then picking up the violin again, he began to play. 

The music was hauntingly angelic. The sound seemed to weave through the air and Damian seemed perfectly content playing the instrument. Tim didn’t realise he was swaying with the way Damian’s bow went until he starting to make a tinkling noise with the instrument, going back and forth over the strings. 

Alfred the Cat blinked sleepily, aroused from his rest. He padded over a few steps and nestled into Tim’s side. Damian’s music went on for many minutes and Tim stayed awestruck the whole time. 

In the middle of the piece it sped up before pausing a couple of beats and slowing down against. Damian’s fingers flew over the strings, and Tim could hardly follow them. When he came to an abrupt stop, Tim was yanked out of his reverie. 

Damian places the violin down and began to loosen the bowstrings. “Why are you here, Drake?” 

“I didn’t know you could play the violin.” 

“It was something my mother required I learn. Grayson found it quite enjoyable so I continued with the instrument.” 

And just like that, Tim was reminded about why he was there. There was no way any of the others would be able to tell him. 

“Damian, I came here to talk to you about Dick.” 

Damian’s head perked up with interest. “Yes, I assumed that Grayson was away on an important mission of sorts, as he was not present when I was brought back.” 

Tim winced. It was a logical conclusion, but not one of the truth. Better to rip the bandaid off now than to let the wound fester underneath. 

He took a deep breath. This was going to be hard. The words seemed lodged in his throat, so he gave a cough. 

“Damian, Dick’s dead.” 

The reaction was immediate. The boy tensed and whipped around to look at him. His face shut down as he stared imploringly at his older brother. Tim winced when the rosin dropped to the floor. 

“I- what? What do you mean  dead?”

“He died. He was killed by something called the crime syndicate.” 

“How? ”

“There was a bomb connected to his heart. It was Lex Luthor who killed him.” 

“You’re lying.”

“I’m sorry, but I’m not. He even has a grave and cave memorial.” Damian stared at him wide eyed, taking in something from his posture and expression. 

“No- no, he’s not supposed to be dead. I died for him, to protect him! Why don’t you protect him!” Damian yelled before his face crumpled. A sob burst through his lips, then another. Tears slowly leaked out of his eyes and Tim felt his heart shatter. 

Damian turned to look up at him, eyes hauntingly empty of everything but sorrow and tears. “You should have brought him back instead of me.” 

Tim’s eyes widened as he dove to pull Damian into an embrace. Alfred the Cat gave a yowl as he was disrupted and darted out of the room. “No,  _ don’t say that _ .” 

“It’s true! You should have. He would be more beneficial to everyone, I am just a weakness, a vulnerability.” 

Tim felt his shirt get wet as Damian cried into his shoulder. He knew hugs were Dick’s thing, but right now Damian needed one. “No, Damian, look at me.” 

Damian looked up into his eyes, his own emerald green ones wide andwet. 

“Do  _ not  _ feel guilty for something that was out of your control. Dick’s death was  not your fault. We brought  _ you  _ back because it was the best option. You are  _ not _ a weakness or a vulnerability and don’t you  _ dare  _ think otherwise.” 

He took a deep breath and a tear leaked out of his eyes. The pain from Dick’s death was still there, ever mind-numbingly present in the back of his head. 

“We miss Dick just as much as we missed you. We’re all still grieving him, and it was a gift to get you back.” 

Damian let out another sob. 

“So you should have brought him back.” 

Tim could see this wasn’t working. “Think about it this way. How do you Dick would feel if he was brought back but you were still dead?” 

Damian shrugged. 

“He would be  very  upset, and very mad with us. You still have your whole life ahead of you, and he would have wanted you to live it.” 

Damian buried his in Tim’s shoulder and cried harder. Tim hugged him tighter. 

A few minutes of near-silence went by when Tim was struck by a thought. Damian had been back for three days, and this is the first time Tim was giving him a hug. 

He buried his nose in Damian spiky yet soft hair and whispered, “I love you. I never got to tell you before you died, but I love you and you’re my little brother.” 

Damian stiffened and Tim was afraid he did something wrong, but then he ever so slowly leaned back into Tim’s hold. 

The guilt that had been weighing down on Tim’s chest since Damian died was set free. He thought that Damian had died thinking that Tim hated him, but at least now he knew. And Damian allowing physical contact after being told that his brother was dead and that he was loved was basically an ‘I love you too’ back.

He knew Damian had probably only been told that by Dick before. And wasn’t that messed up? There was one person in the world that Damian _knew_ loved him, that he could be 100% sure about, and he had just found out that person was dead.

They sat in silence for a bit before Damian pushed Tim’s arms away and stood up. He rubbed the tear tracks from his face. Tim guessed that Damian had reached his physical contact and emotional limit for the day. 

He knew Damian would probably be even more upset later, when it sunk in that Dick being dead meant he would never see him again. 

“Do you want me to tell them you don’t feel like dinner today?” 

“Yes.” Damian seemed to internally debate adding something else. “And... thank you, Timothy. For telling me.” 

Tim gave a small nod and a weak smile before turning and ambling out of Damian’s room. The door shut with a  click . Tim leant against the thick, hard wood and exhaled slowly. That was simultaneously harder and easier than he had excepted. 

He knew the rest of the family didn’t want Damian to find out about Dick’s death just yet. They liked having someone in a happy bliss, but Tim knew it wasn’t right for them to keep it from him. Dick had probably been one of the closest, if not the closest to Damian. 

He took a deep breath, rubbed his eyes clean of tears and went to go tell everyone that he had let Damian know. 

**Author's Note:**

> I love making Damian hurt, don’t I? 
> 
> Yes, I totally do. 
> 
> My justification for Damian’s emotional characterisation in this is that Damian came back from the dead literally THREE DAYS AGO. He’s gonna be pretty lost about the world after being gone for around a year. Add the fact that he’s finding out his older brother aka his Batman aka his pseudo-dad just died, he’s gonna be a wreck. 
> 
> Yeah so anyyyyyyyway I’m making a series of the Batkids interacting with their older siblings. I decided to start off with Tim and Dami because hskdhjdks I am a sucker for them bonding and for some reason my mind went to Dick’s ‘death’ so this is where that got us. 
> 
> I’m also taking prompts and requests, for both this series and just batfam in general. I have you have any, let me know!
> 
> Anyway, leave a comment or come talk to me at my tumblr!  
> https://thesporklecat.tumblr.com/


End file.
